In Past Show

About Jan Maarten Voskuil

Based on the premise formulated by De Stijl cofounder (and fellow Dutchman) Theo van Doesburg that a work of art refers only to itself, Jan Maarten Voskuil’s abstract, wonkily geometric paintings-cum-sculptures are full of rigor and humor. His works are oriented on the circle and the rectangle, whose forms he alters and distorts using mathematical principles. These calculations guide the shape of his wooden frames, across which he stretches monochromatic canvases, presented singly or combined into multipart works that may be found hanging on or propped against walls, installed in the middle of a room, or even attached to the ceiling. At once austerely minimal and exuberant, Voskuil’s compositions often appear to be in the process of shape-shifting—peeling off of the wall, stretching, or collapsing in on themselves—as if imbued with minds of their own.